Israel Escapes Locust Plague — For Now

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MITZPE RAMON, Israel — A menacing swarm of locusts that entered
southern Israel earlier this week has been largely smitten,
according to the Israeli government and local reports. But some
of the insects' ilk may be back later this week.

Officials sprayed the flying insects with pesticide early this
morning (March 6), greatly reducing the number of living, flying
insects, according to a statement from the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development.

However, there's a "moderate risk" that another, small swarm
could reach this region, in
Israel's Negev Desert, later this week or on the weekend,
said Keith Cressman, a senior locust-forecasting officer in Rome
for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United
Nations.

The desert locusts, whose scientific name is Schistocerca
gregaria, arrived a couple weeks before Passover, the
weeklong festival that recounts the biblical exodus of the Jewish
people from Egypt. According to the Bible,
swarms of locusts were the eighth plague sent into ancient
Egypt as a punishment for suppressing the Jews, said Hendrik
Bruins, a researcher who studies the archaeology and
environmental aspects of desert peoples, at Israel's Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev.

"This [current swarm] fits very well with the seasonal timing of
the exodus in the bible," Bruins said.

All
locusts are grasshoppers, or in the grasshopper family, but
not all grasshoppers are locusts, said Amir Ayali, a researcher
at Tel Aviv University. About 15 species of grasshoppers can be
classified as locusts, essentially meaning they can fly and
create swarms. The creatures are usually solitary and avoid each
other, but in the right conditions, they congregate in large
groups, exhibiting what is called a "gregarious" behavior, Ayali
said.

The current swarm originated in southeastern Egypt and
northeastern Sudan, despite efforts by these countries to control
the insects' populations, Cressman said. The animals thrive in
relatively wet conditions, and the locusts moved on once the area
started to dry out in early February, he continued. By March 2,
they had reached Cairo, buffeted by winds out of the south. There
were many thousands of locusts in the swarms that have arrived in
southern Israel, but the exact number is unclear, according to
officials.

Locusts are passive fliers, and can't get far flying into the
breeze; however, under the right conditions, they can fly up to
90 miles (150 kilometers) per day, Cressman said.

On March 4, winds from the west brought a small swarm into
Israel's Negev, and another group arrived the same way the next
day (March 5), Cressman added. Now, however, the insects have
been sprayed, and the wind has shifted, now blowing out of the
northeast, greatly reducing the threat the insects pose. The
creatures are also "less active and voracious than normal because
they have already traveled quite some distance," Cressman said.
[ In
Photos: Nature's Biggest Pests ]

However, a small swarm could reach northeastern Egypt and the
Negev on Friday or Saturday, Cressman said. This morning,
officials warned Israel, Jordan and Egypt to take necessary
measures, he said.

Zapping locusts

The only way to deal with
large locust outbreaks is to spray them with pesticides,
Cressman said, a process that "has become increasingly safer and
more environmentally friendly over the years." Persistent
pesticides (that don't break down after spraying) are no longer
used, having been replaced with varieties that evaporate after 24
hours, he said. The chemicals are also sprayed directly on
locusts instead of on vegetation or the ground, are only used in
small quantities and are deployed by highly trained specialists,
he said.

Such specialists increasingly rely on a new family of
bio-pesticides, such as a chemical called Green Muscle that comes
from a naturally occurring fungus that only attacks locusts. In
particular, officials use these bio-pesticides in sensitive areas
like nature reserves, he said.

The FAO warned Israel a couple days ahead of time that swarms
were likely, and the country "immediately mobilized teams [and]
resources, and informed farmers and other parties so they were
prepared for the locusts," Cressman said.

The locusts may not be all bad, however. The locust is the only
kosher insect, meaning it is acceptable to eat under Jewish law,
Bruins said. "I've never eaten them, but they seem to be quite
tasty."

Cressman, however, has sampled the critters. "I have
eaten desert locusts roasted on the fire, boiled, dried and
fried — rather a poor man's version of shrimp," he said.

Generally, however, the locusts are the ones doing the eating. A
swarm the size of Cairo — which is not unusual for the desert
locust — could, in one day, eat the same amount of food as 15
million people could consume, Cressman said. That's about twice
the population of Cairo, he added.